What does EOF mean?

[Ankur Jain Kothari]

 #include <stdio.h>
#define IN 1 /* inside a word */
#define OUT 0 /* outside a word */
/* count lines, words, and characters in input */
main()
{
int c, nl, nw, nc, state;
state = OUT;
nl = nw = nc = 0;
while ((c = getchar()) != EOF) {
++nc;
if (c == '\n')
++nl;
if (c == ' ' || c == '\n' || c = '\t')
state = OUT;
else if (state == OUT) {
state = IN;
++nw;
}
}
printf("%d %d %d\n", nl, nw, nc);
}   

this is the code...which i got from the net....but i dont seem to understand it..what does EOF mean here? and what is the ideal output here?

this code is supposed to count the number of words

thanks

[Bear Bibeault]

end of file

[Ankur Jain Kothari]

so when i run this program i get a console window which never seems to stop...i want to stop the input as soon enter is pressed...how do i do it?

[pete stein]

EOF is a constant that is defined in the stdio.h file and used for the end of file value. For more Google can help.

A decent google hit

[Ankur Jain Kothari]

what happens if ctrl-d is pressed? i dont get any different answer...just a new character...but nothing happens becuase of it

[Campbell Ritchie]

If I remember correctly, and I probably don't, EOF is ctrl-D on Mac and *nix, but ctrl-Z or ctrl-Z/return on Windows and DOS.

[isha krishnan]

hi all!!

now if we check the value of EOF inn stdio.h,its -1..
when i type characters on console which are read by getchar()..if i enter -1 in that string eg "abc-1dd"

i get the output with putchar(c) as abc-1dd.

why does not it stop at -1 itself since (-1 = EOF)?

thanks

[Bear Bibeault]

Did you enter an end-of-file character?

[isha krishnan]

i had not entered character,now i tried with ctrl+z on output window .It helped to get out of output screen and counted the number of lines correctly.

Thanks

[Riiya Dsesuja]

EOF is "End Of File"